theinbetweenismine

just a girl living the expat life

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Archives for January 2021

Currently | January

January 27, 2021 filed under: currently

 

FEELING | cautiously hopeful for the future of this country. Watching the inauguration last week and seeing sane tweets from our new president (and his press secretary) in the last few days make my heart so calm and happy.

LISTENING TO | the rain storm that finally came through the valley last night (thankfully, no damage around here and not power outages in our neighborhood, but more rain to come the next few days!).

ENJOYING | our beautiful California January skies. (We desperately need more rain, but of course, I’ll take a blue sky when I can.)

LOVING | our fake TV-fireplace a little bit too much.

WATCHING | Schitt’s Creek. You guys, we finally started watching this show. I know we’re way late (as we are with most shows, if we get around to watching any shows at all), but so far, we’re enjoying it. I mean, it’s funny. I am not sure I am getting the hype yet, but I am willing to give it a little more time.

READING | A promised land by Barack Obama. Man, he’s a good writer (which doesn’t surprise me). But this book is dense. I am not getting through it as fast as I was expecting, but it’s utterly fascinating.

EATING | a warm, steaming bowl of steel-cut oatmeal for breakfast (most days).

DRINKING | (pots of) camomile-lavender tea. 

LEARNING | to appreciate some of the Peloton yoga and (sleep) meditation content. I am usually not someone who can relax and “do nothing” easily, but these shorter classes have given me an appreciation for just being “still” for a little while.

(super) EXCITED | about my Peloton Century Club t-shirt that I received in the mail this month. I’ve been using the Peloton app since August of 2020 and everyone, even the app users, get a Century Club shirt when they reach 100 workouts in any one category (it was “rides” for me, closely followed by strength classes).

MISSING | a more regular running routine. I currently only run once (sometimes twice) a week outdoors and I am looking forward to early morning runs again when the sun rises earlier and it is light out before I start work.

BUYING | coffee filters for $20. Ugh. Who’s been hogging all the Chemex coffee filters? I’ve been trying to get them for a few weeks now and finally had to order them online for a steep price because they were out of stock everywhere. What’s up with that?

WEARING | sweatpants and hoodies. Don’t tell me you are actually getting dressed these days.

What is up with currently?

12

Recipe | Our green dinner: whole grain linguine with walnut-spinach-pesto

January 25, 2021 filed under: recipe

 

If you’re like me, you frequently forget how delicious pesto is and how quick and easy it is to make at home. I am here to remind you because we’re recently “re-discovered” pesto for our meal planning. It’s a tasty, vegetarian dish that you can whip up in no time.

We like to add a side of veggies whenever we can and we call this our “green dinner” because we often add a green vegetable – broccoli – as a side dish. You can of course pick something else if you’d like. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 lb whole wheat pasta (cooked per instruction)
  • 3 cups spinach 
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/3 cup walnuts
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 2 tbsps grated parmesan cheese
  • ½  tsp salt
  • ½ tsp pepper

Cook the pasta according to package instructions.

Meanwhile, add the spinach, garlic, pine nuts, cheese, salt, and pepper to a food processor or blender and pulse until well combined.

Add the olive oil, lemon juice, and more salt and pepper to taste and blend until smooth.

Toss with the linguine – or your favorite pasta – until everything is evenly coated.

Serve with a side of broccoli for an extra green dinner.

Whole grain linguine with walnut-spinach-pesto

5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Servings 6
Calories 458 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb whole grain pasta
  • 3 cups spinach
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/3 cup walnut pieces
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tbsps parmesan grated
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper

Instructions
 

  • Boil the pasta per package instruction.
  • Meanwhile, add the spinach, garlic, pine nuts, cheese, salt, and pepper to a food processor or blender and pulse until well combined.
  • Add the olive oil, lemon juice, and more salt and pepper to taste and blend until smooth.
    Toss with the linguine - or your favorite pasta - until everything is evenly coated.
  • Serve with a side of broccoli for an extra green dinner.

Linking up with Deborah for Meatless Monday.

Confessions of a Mother Runner

10

Five Things Friday Vol. 20 – The Inauguration edition

January 22, 2021 filed under: Friday Five, politics

Five Things Friday: just five things I’m thinking about or things that made my week, or things that I otherwise feel like sharing.

I was on my bi-weekly grocery run this morning and listened to NPR (as I usually do in the car) and heard “President Biden” a few times in the conversations. I cannot explain how much it startled and at the same time relieved me to hear his name and realize all over that, yes, we have a good, decent man in the White House again. Phew! It’s also nice to hear that he’s getting right to work. Want to take any bets on how many golfing days he’ll take? (Ha!)

*  *  * 

This has been a great and also exhausting week. I was so on edge because of the Inauguration on Wednesday, but then everything just turned out beautifully: no more riots, a moving swearing-in of the new president, and his madam vice president, and an amazing “Celebrating America” show. Whoever put that together did a fantastic job.

Part of me felt sad for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for not having a huge crowd welcoming them in Washington, but I realized this virtual celebration felt so much more inclusive for everyone around the country than watching a broadcast of the typical Inauguration Day Ball. The flags on the National Mall were beautiful. The fireworks were spectacular, and the 400 Covid-19 Memorial Lights around the Reflecting Pool set the right backdrop for (some of) the absolutely stunning musical performances.

*  *  * 

If you didn’t watch the inauguration ceremony on Wednesday (why the hell not???), you also missed out on the beautiful poem by Amanda Gorman and you need to remedy that. You need to see this. (Oh, and the Bernie Sanders memes, of course, while you’re at it.)

*  *  * 

I also started listening to the daily (!) press briefings again yesterday and I didn’t expect it to be so freakin’ refreshing to see someone up at the podium who is willing to communicate with the public (and the media) without spewing lies, untruths, and calling everyone names. Who knew!

*  *  *

While, no, not everything is miraculously better today than it was a few days ago, I do feel like we can all breathe a little lighter and that we can start moving things in the right direction again. It’s up to all of us to continue to work for progress and make a difference. 

Tell me, how did you experience the last few days?  And also, have a great weekend!

 

12

Tuesday Topics | What I learned about myself during the pandemic

January 19, 2021 filed under: about me, Tuesday Topics

This week, I am linking up with  Kookyrunner and Zenaida  for Tuesday Topics and we’re talking about what I learned about myself during the pandemic.

Uh, we’re going deep, guys. I am sure the last 11 months have revealed some surprising – and maybe not so surprising – things about ourselves. 

I am a homebody, but I still miss going out.

Quarantine has been relatively easy for me. I love being at home. I am not somebody who has to be out and about all the time, but I do miss the freedom to decide to go somewhere or meet with someone whenever I want.

It takes me a long time to get bored at home.

As in, I have not gotten remotely bored during the restrictions. This is not to say that I haven’t been paralyzed (here and there) by the news – COVID- and politics-related – or that I don’t wish I could do things outside our home, but I have never been someone who goes stir crazy when stuck at home. I always find lots of fun and/or practical things I can fill my time with.

Two-week meal plans are just as easy as one-week meal plans.

I used to meal plan for one week and shop once a week. When the stay-at-home order hit, we decided to minimize the times we wanted to leave home and expose ourselves to the virus and switched to a bi-weekly shopping schedule. The big American fridges (ours is actually on the smaller side – ha!) can just about hold enough groceries for two weeks and it’s been working out great. I don’t know if I’ll ever go back to shopping weekly. 

I am adaptable.

Well, that’s not really something new I learned about myself. I knew that I am able to adapt to new situations, but I am surprised how little discomfort it has caused me. I had days in the beginning (and still now sometimes) where I felt tired and drained by *everything*  that was going on, but it was more the mental aspect of the unknown and not so much the physical aspect of our new situation. 

I can be very judgmental.

I usually go by the motto “live and let live” and don’t really care about how other people live their lives, but I realized that during the pandemic, I am pretty judgmental when I see people not abide by the rules: social distancing, mask wearing, not gathering in groups, all that good stuff. It seems so easy to me to do these things to keep everyone as safe as possible.

We’re in this mess that we’re in because people feel that they can just go about their damn day without considering other people around them, and while I know that I only have control about what I personally decide to do (or not do), it upsets me that we’re having this uphill battle (for months now!) because people don’t listen to the scientists. People complain about the stay at home orders and restrictions, but what it comes down to is personal responsibility and I think we could be in a better spot if people could sit tight for a little while and don’t insist on traveling and eating out and gathering in groups during a pandemic.

I really like working from home.

I never thought that this was something I wanted to do, but working from home has “slowed down” my everyday life considerably, and I kinda like that. I am not rushing out the door early in the morning. I’ve enjoyed going for early morning runs (or just hop on my spin bike) and then be able to shower and just plop down in front of the computer, instead of getting all ready and grab all my stuff to head to the office (and I don’t even have a long commute!).

I don’t *think* I am saying that I’d want to work from home forever, but a part-time work-from-home schedule would be nice.

What have you learned about yourself during the pandemic?

31

January Link List

January 18, 2021 filed under: link love

linklist

Around the Interwebs

Turns out it’s pretty good waking up early. “There was so much day ahead of me! So many hours to be alive. […] I felt like I had already lived an entire day only to have another one sprawling before me.”

In case you were wondering (as I was). What’s it really like to live in Washingon, D.C. right now.

Lifehacks! Some of these are genius!

Haha. A course syllabus for making new friends as an adult.

The Other Talk. “The first thing people see when they look at you is your skin color. People will look at your skin and all they will see is black. It doesn’t matter what you accomplish in life. If you become a doctor, a lawyer, a movie star — they will look at you, and the first thing they will see is your blackness.”

The most instagrammed National Parks

9 ways to improve your gut health.

12 signs you’re forcing a relationship that just isn’t right. Every couple on “90-days fiancé” right now. Haha.

The Capitol rioters weren’t ‘low class’. 

Around the blogosphere

My friend Mikael asked (and wrote): What’s the word for 2020 – Bravery! 

Justice before Unity!

My Trader Joe’s Favorites. I always love to hear what other people buy – and love – from Trader Joe’s! 

Common courtesy and social engagement. I couldn’t agree more.

Craftiness/DIY

The Ridgeline Cardigan. One of these days, I am going to knit a piece of clothing.

For my runner friends

Are you a morning person? Here’s how to motivate yourself to work out in the morning.

Top Peloton Facebook Groups you want to be part of. Nice round-up of supportive FB groups by Debora.

Deliciousness

Mushrooms stew with farro and kale. Gimme!

Tuscan-style beef lentil soup. So good!

I miss Müslibrötchen (rolls with oats, nuts, and raisins) and want to try these next.

Share a good link with me in the comments!

6

One Little Word® for 2021: Trust

January 15, 2021 filed under: OLW

I know. Could I be any more cliché with my word choice for this new year when the world keeps falling apart all around us?

I first wanted to pick “hope”, which seemed even more cliché, but since hope and trust are closely related and trust seems a little bit more committed than hope, I went with it. Honestly, it’s the only word that kept popping back into my mind and it truly feels like the only fitting word for me right now.

trust  /ˈtrəst/ (verb)

to rely on the truthfulness or accuracy of 
to hope or expect confidently 
to rely upon or place confidence in someone or something 
to have confidence; hope
 
I am generally a hopeful, glass-half-full kinda person and I also believe that generally, people are good, but I would lie if I said that our trust hasn’t been truly tested through the pandemic and this last year of the Trump presidency. People have honestly surprised me in the worst possible ways. The level of selfishness and hate that has been on display in various settings was shocking. But there was also a lot of good (as there always is) and if trust is not the word that will carry me through this new year, then I don’t know which word truly could. I have to trust that things will get better.
 
But “trust whom or what?”, you might want to ask.
 
I don’t know.

You. Me. The process? The universe?

I am not really religious and have long given up on the thought that was is happening on this planet is the will of a higher power or that a higher power will help us fix things. I think it’s up to us and I do ultimately trust in the good in this world and its people (minus a few exceptions).

I need to trust (and listen to) myself more. I tend to suffer from imposter syndrome sometimes and I need to trust more that I recognize what is working for me and what isn’t, so I can let go and redirect. I want to trust how to use my voice to advocate for myself and others.

I will trust my community, my family, my friends. I trust that together we can bring change, and I will trust and listen to their words and wisdom and let them catch me, as I am always willing to catch them. 

I will trust my body, and that it knows what it needs (may it be rest, fuel, movement), trust that a deep breath will always calm me down and that a good run will clear my head every single time.

I will trust that I can stop and rest and take care of myself without always needing to be doing something. More often than not, I feel better about myself when I am productive, but if this last year has taught me one thing, it is that productiveness is not everything and that you can’t always force it, especially when there’s so much going on in the world.

I trust the scientists (and doctors and healthcare workers) to help and guide us through this pandemic. It’s hard to believe that we’ve been going through it for almost a full year and we’re not yet at the end of it, but I trust that we will soon see the end of the tunnel and a path back to normalcy where we can see and hug our family and friends again. I trust that the sacrifices were worth it.

I will trust that they’re good people coming in who will fix the political mess in this country. I am not going to lie, these last four years have been scary times. I haven’t wanted to become numb to the news but found myself often just shrugging my shoulders about yet another unbelievable news story that should have had us all jumping out of our seats. (Just me?) Half of the crazy sh*t doesn’t even make it on the news anymore, because there is so much to cover on any given day. I guess I am tired, is what I am saying, but I trust all the good people that have worked so hard to turn out the vote for Joe Biden in the fall, and I trust that if only we can get through the next few days without too much harm done, we can hopefully put this country back on the right trajectory.

I trust that good things will happen this year, even if we are off to a rocky start. I trust that we can all do better; that kindness, humanity, and decency will prevail in the end.

What’s your word for 2021?

Here are the words I picked in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.

27

Tuesday Topics | My favorite book(s) of 2020

January 12, 2021 filed under: books, Tuesday Topics

This week, I am linking up with  Kookyrunner and Zenaida for Tuesday Topics and we’re talking about our favorite book(s) of 2020.

I didn’t read nearly as much as I had hoped last year. I had set a low-bar goal of 28 books and didn’t even hit that. I know there are two types of people – or two ways – in dealing with a pandemic. You either bury yourself in books or you don’t pick up any books at all. I fell in the latter camp last year. Although I still managed to read 22 books (see all above), but felt that had little to no brain-space and little focus to read with everything else going on in the world. 

If you look through the titles, you can see that I picked up a lot of “heavy stuff”. Maybe that’s why my reading goal suffered because some of these books really took a lot out of me and I just had to take my time (and reading breaks) to process it all.

You can read all the individual reviews in my monthly book reviews (or connect with me on Goodreads!). The books that I did read were all very good and I would recommend most of them (minus one or two that I would say aren’t must-reads), but I thought I’d pick and share my top 5 out of the 22 books I read in 2020. (Surprisingly, there are exactly 5 books that I gave 5 stars, but then most of the others had 4 stars (and a couple had 3 stars), so definitely consider them all for your to-read list!)

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owen

I loved everything about this book. The historical background, the descriptive writing, and heroine Kya, the Marsh Girl. Abandoned at age 10, Kya learns to survive in the North Carolina marsh on her own, taking lessons from nature, and living in harmony with it. But she does have to venture out to nearby Barkley Cove for supplies and inevitably sparks the interest of two young men from town. When one of them winds up dead, Kya is instantly suspect.

I am a bit of a critical reader and it’s very rare that a book is so neatly structured that I hardly find anything to criticize. There were no loose ends, no eye-rolling moments, nothing that was tied up too conveniently. Go read it.

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes 

This novel is based on true events, the Packhorse Librarian Program that was inaugurated by Eleanor Roosevelt during the Depression in rural Kentucky. Five brave and independent women travel into the mountains to bring books and magazines to those without access to schools. The book touches on many topics, including racism, sexism, and corruptness during these times, but it’s mostly a book about female friendship and the slow but steady revolt against a system that is (still) run by men. The characters were intriguing and well-developed, and I felt so invested in their journeys. I highly recommend it.

A long way home by Saroo Brierley 

Better known as a backstory for the movie, Lion, in this autobiography, Brierley tells his life story, describing his ordeals and adventures as a lost five-year-old in rural India, his adoption by an Australian family, and his search for his Indian native family as an adult.

It reads like fiction and it’s hard to comprehend what Brierley has been through. Just imagine getting lost when you were five and not being able to find your way back to your family. It sounds unimaginable and almost too good to be true that he was able to track down his roots years later. Read his story, I promise it won’t disappoint!

Strangely, this book made me think of all the kids that came here as refugees and were separated from their parents by ICE, and some of whom will probably never be reunited (go read Soboroff’s book, Separated: Inside an American Tragedy, about this topic!). What an unthinkable tragedy!

Just Mercy: A story of justice and redemption by Bryan Stevenson

This book had been on my to-read list for a while and it finally became available. A lot in this book sounded familiar, and I remembered that I had read “The sun does shine” by Anthony Ray Hinton who was also freed by Bryan Stevenson, but this book talks about Bryan Stevenson’s own story of becoming a civil right’s attorney in Alabama and founding the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), a nonprofit law office, dedicated to defending the poor, the incarcerated, and the wrongly condemned.

This book tells the story of EJI’s first client, Walter McMillian, who was put on death row for a murder he didn’t commit and eventually freed by Stevenson and his team.

So you want to talk about race by Ijeoma Oluo 

This book was really good. I’ve read a few anti-racists books in 2020, but this one was by far the easiest to digest. I mean, not “easy” in the way that it’s a “fun” book, racism is a heavy topic, but I felt that Oluo made this topic really accessible. There was a lot I just “nodded” along because on a theoretical level, I “knew all this” already, but there were also some things I really hadn’t considered (because, well, the situation hadn’t presented itself to me and this is not an excuse, but having been raised in Europe, I think my upbringing and socialization was a little different from being brought up in the United States. There definitely is racism in Europe, and everywhere else  in the world, I’d argue, but I think it’s different from the structural racism in the United States that originated from chattel slavery.) Oluo did give some good examples on how to change behaviors because I will admit that I often agree with a lot of what is said about structural racism, but feel helpless in how I personally can make a difference.

We have to get comfortable with the word “racist” (as someone who not necessarily feels, but shows – maybe unknowingly or even unintentionally – discrimination or prejudice against POCs) and just challenge our learned behaviors and thinking patterns.

I think one of the most important arguments I have found in all the books about anti-racism that I’ve read last year is that we have to acknowledge what Oluo put this way: “there is no way you can inherit white privilege from birth, learn racist white supremacy history in schools, consume racist and white supremacist movies and films, work in a racist and white supremacist workforce, and vote for racist and white supremacist governments and not be racist. This does not mean that you have hate in your heart.” (p. 218)

What was your favorite book of 2020?

24

Things I wanted to do in 2020

January 11, 2021 filed under: goals, review


photo credit: @anniespratt via Unsplash

I usually don’t post a review of my previous year’s goals, but in light of a very unprecedented year, I was surprised to see that despite the wrench that 2020 threw into the works of everyone’s life, I checked more things off my “want-to-do”-list last year than I thought.

✔ GO SKIING (AND SNOWBOARDING).

That would most definitely not have happened if I hadn’t been able to check this one off my list in January already. So glad I got to go!

TRAVEL IN THE SUMMER WITH MY FAMILY

Well, that obviously didn’t happen and I was super-bummed about it. We had planned the visit (and subsequent road trip) for months and it’s not like my family comes to visit every year. That trip had been in the making since 2015 and was one of the hardest things to “give up” last year. 

✔ IMPROVE MY FITNESS AND BREAK THE 2 HOUR-MARK IN THE HALF MARATHON.

I finally checked this goal off my list last year. Sadly, it wasn’t an “official PR”, because all in-person races were canceled and I ran this HM virtually with a friend, but at least, I could prove to myself that I’d been improving and was capable of accomplishing this. I hope to repeat it on an official course sometime.

✔ RUN AT LEAST 600 MILES THIS YEAR.

I didn’t even have this goal on my “radar” but ended 2020 with 610 running miles under my belt.

WORK ON MY ETSY SHOP.

That didn’t happen. I had high hopes at the start of last year that I would be motivated and make time for my Etsy shop, but the pandemic pretty much zapped all of my creative energy. Then, the USPS woes started and I felt even less inclined to re-start a shop that was going to rely on the postal service to deliver goods. Maybe I’ll re-open my shop in 2021. 

READ MORE THAN 27 BOOKS.

I did not read 27 books last year. I read 22, which I guess is not too far off, but it feels like I could barely focus on any books in 2020. I am hoping for 2021 to be better.

✔ CONTINUE TO INVEST IN HEALTHY LIVING

I definitely kept my focus on healthy living last year. I made sure to keep up (and expand) my fitness routine, I started taking (some carefully selected) supplements, I focused on hydration, and with all the home-cooking we were doing, tried to improve our meals by adding more vegetarian dishes, swapping in lighter ingredients, and adding (even) more vegetables and fruit into our diet. I also dabbled a bit with intermittent-fasting (more out of curiosity than anything else).

✔ ONE ACT OF KINDNESS EVERY WEEK.

I don’t know for sure if I accomplished this (I did not keep a tally), but I am claiming this as complete. I try to be a nice person on any given day, and even though I have no recollection of purposefully trying at this goal, I do feel that I reached out more (I reconnected with a few people), wrote letters, and tried to be kind and smiled more at strangers. I am pretty sure that I extended more grace and kindness to people last year than not.  

✔ BE INTENTIONAL WITH MY TIME.

I definitely gave myself grace and didn’t jump on all the bandwagons and allowed myself to say “no” to things that I felt I should be doing but had no interest in doing (looking at you, all-the-Netflix-series). There were many days where I felt drained and gave in to mindless doomscrolling, but also made sure that I stepped away often to get outside and clear my mind.

✔ KEEP UP WITH MY PLANNER/JOURNAL.

In a twist of irony, in the year when there was not much to do besides sitting on your couch, I used my planner more consistently than ever. I jotted down (and pre-planned) my weekly workout routines, meal-planned (on paper, not just in the Evernote-app), and wrote down FaceTime Calls with people near and far as if they were meetings on my calendar. I am hoping to keep it up :)

*   *   *

7 out of 10 goals met in the year of a pandemic? Not too shabby, I’d argue. Not that I had put any expectations on my goal’s list after the pandemic hit, but it’s nice to see that I still got some things accomplished.

How did you do?

16

Goodbye 2020, hello 2021.

January 7, 2021 filed under: politics, real life

Happy New Year, friends. I hope you all arrived safely in the much anticipated year of 2021.

I always have a little bit of a delayed blogging start in January. I always feel like lots of posts revolve around resolutions, goal mapping, new intentions, and while I think about these things (often!), I don’t usually tie them to a specific date, especially not January, 1st, and yet, I always feel a lot of pressure to welcome this new blank slate appropriately.

No, things have not changed over night and we’ll still be in a pandemic lockdown for a while, but strangely, turning the page on the calendar this time around has given people a lot of hope. 

I definitely had more hope for the future of this country after learning that Georgia wrote history and elected two Democratic Senators yesterday morning, hence, flipping the Senate and putting Democrats back in control in the White House, House and Senate. That’s huge! I think the only thing I am currently even more excited about is the fact that Mitch McConnell, if not gone from the Senate, at least will lose the position of Senate majority speaker. His turtle ass has done horrid things to this country and he needs to go. 

More hope turned into less hope when I turned on the news and saw a mob storm the U.S. Capitol to stop the procedural confirmation of our president-elect Joe Biden as our 46th president. What in the world is wrong with people? I understand that people are not happy when their guy loses, but good god, did we get out on the street in 2016 and violently march on Washington when Hillary Clinton lost?

Trump talks about the 74 million people (HOW ARE THERE SO MANY TRUMP SUPPORTERS LEFT AFTER 4 YEARS OF CHAOS, HOW I ASK YOU? ) that feel betrayed (by a free and fair election, mind you), and completely dismisses the 81+ million that voted for Biden. I guess, basic math is very difficult for someone with a small p…  brain. 

The two things I want to know are a) what were those people thinking? (And why weren’t they arrested, but allowed to even leave the building again, unharmed), and b) how the hell did they get into the building? Why wasn’t Capitol Police prepared for the mob that Tr*mp had been egging on for weeks? How did they not see this coming?

We all know and have witnessed the stark difference between how non-violent BLM protesters were treated and how law enforcement responded to the actual breach of the Capitol Building by (mostly) white people. Double-standards, is what you call this. If you can’t see that, I don’t know how to help you. 

It was somewhat bizarre to see Congress resume session last night, as if nothing happened. While they eventually confirmed Joe Biden’s election win, some Republicans still objected to election results in two states.

In non-surprising news, Tr*mp officials and staffers have started to resign (why the fake indignation now?) and Facebook and Twitter have finally blocked Trump’s accounts yesterday, after Tr*ump addressed the rioters through a video message, telling them “I love you, you’re very special”. What it comes down to is this: people will have to be held accountable. Rioters have to be identified, arrested, and prosecuted for the crime they’ve committed. Senators and Representatives have to be held accountable by their constituents. 

Apparently, Tr*mp released a statement this morning, promising a peaceful transition of power, but can we believe him? He’s not conceding and has put up roadblocks at every possible turn since election day. Everything he did led to the siege of Congress yesterday and he’s not shown any concern, consternation, or condemnation of what happened. So, I don’t trust one word that is coming out of his mouth.

I can only hope that we get through the next 13 days with our democracy intact. Joe and Kamala will have a lot of work to do. Lots of repairs before anything else. And I am afraid that they’ll have a hell of a time trying to unite this nation, if that’s even possible right now.

This post got political very fast, didn’t it?

Well, I guess 2021 has yet to prove to be better than 2020.

10

Hi, I am San – German native, dual-citizen living in beautiful Northern California. Runner. Knitter. Crafter. Reader. Writer. Proud aunt, sister, and friend.

I’ve been blogging since 2004 and don’t intend to stop any time soon. If you are looking for personal content and making a  genuine connection, you’ve come to the right place.

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